The Gift of the Magi - R
by Endymion MkIII
Summary: In retrospect I don't know what possessed me. Right after gifting her the lip rouge she went and wore it and turned to me. "Well?", she asked me, waiting for my opinion, on how it looked on her.


So, thank you very much for coming in and reading my very first fic here! I've been meaning to start posting to for a while now and, finally, here we are! I'll keep the A.N. short, I hope you enjoy the story and here's a quick disclaimer:

Final Fantasy Tactics and all related characters are the property of Square Enix LTD. This work of fiction is written for no financial gain nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

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**The Gift of the Magi - R**

In retrospect I don't know what possessed me. Right after gifting her the lip rouge she went and wore it and turned to me. "Well?", she asked me, waiting for my opinion, on how it looked on her.  
I couldn't utter a word. For what seemed at the same time like an eternity and too short of a moment I stared at her lovely face, made even more lovely by the crimson on her lips. As darkened as the pub was she shined with her knightly demeanor, a star whenever she spoke, whenever she fought, whenever she hummed when she thought no one was paying attention. Of course I always paid attention. And here I just couldn't utter a word.  
She spoke again, clearly uncomfortable with the silence, in a moment of insecurity so rare in her, "Do I look odd?". I rushed to answer, "N-no! Not at all! It's just...". Again I fell silent, and that's when sanity left me in its entirety. I made a request. "It's just...Lady Agrias this might seem odd, but...but if I could only have a request, may I look at you for just a bit longer? It does look very, very lovely on you...", with what Ramza would describe later as a "dreamy, lovelorn stare", I just kept looking at her, my valiant knight. Lady Agrias turned a deep shade of red, unaccustomed to such displays towards her. But she wouldn't turn away. Perhaps from her natural courage and boldness she just stared back with an odd mix of shock and insecurity in her eyes, her lips twitching yet trying clumsily to display as naturally as possible the rouge she had just applied. It was such a rare ocassion to see her like this I could not help but drink of a sight only a few had ever seen, my chin resting on my hand, wishing the moment would last forever. Finally, perhaps being unable to take such a moment anymore, she yet again spoke, "Thank you, Mustadio. I..uh, I'll treasure this gift. As I...are you ok, Mustadio?", perhaps noticing I was still just staring at her, she attempted to break me from my reverie. I realized what was happening and also turned a deep shade of red, "L-lady Agrias, I merely...! Oh god, this must have been so uncomfortable for you! I'm terribly, terribly sorry! Yes, it looks very good on you!", I managed to return to my senses, but only briefly, "...very, very good", again I stared at her with my "dreamy, lovelorn stare". She quickly grabbed my shoulders and shook me, "Mustadio, get a hold of yourself! You seem...you seem, uh, tired! Yes, that's it, you seem tired! You should rest!". Agrias quickly downed the remainder of her wine and quickly stood up. Alarmed I stood up as well and desperately tried again to apologize, "Please, forgive me, yet again! I don't know what's come over me. You were resting, I'm the one who should leave you to your moment of respite. I'm glad you enjoyed the gift", luckily I managed to gather my wits and turned to leave. As I placed the chair I was sitting on back into place and turned to leave, she quickly grabbed my arm, "Wait! It's alright, I'm sure you were just tired. I suppose the combination of not being used to wearing rouge and your...tired visage simply made me self-conscious. You don't need to leave on my behalf, perhaps you also need a respite. Please join me, Mustadio".

I sat back down, an expression of incredulity painted all over my face. She called over the barmaid and requested a flagon of wine, "I trust you're alright with wine? This pub has a particularly fierce one I very much like to enjoy whenever we come to Lionel". I nodded effusively, completely alert. Here I was, with my gallant Lady Agrias, who would always make me feel safe whenever we were in the battlefield. And it was only the two of us. She poured the wine in my cup and in hers, then raised it towards me, "to this momentary respite, and to a day when they're the norm, cheers!", we hit our cups and downed the wine. And indeed, it was rather strong. I couldn't help but cough, to which she chuckled a bit and grabbed my shoulder once more. Such a soft, warm touch, "Alas, perhaps I have misjudged your resistance? Pray forgive me, I'll request a flagon of water to dilute it a bit for you", I scrambled to stop her, feeling I should at least display some sort of masculinity at this even to my long time protector, "No, no, it's quite alright! It simply took me by suprise!", I downed the rest of it, bracing myself this time, "See?", I reassured her, my eyes slightly closed to better endure the alcohol. "Indeed I do see! The only other person I've seen endure this wine is Lord Orlandeau, perhaps I have a new drinking partner?", Agrias smiled with her beautiful smile, letting me learn of a new aspect of her. No wonder I never knew she enjoyed her wine so much, since she always conducted herself with great professionalism. Perhaps that very same professionalism made these moments all the more rare for her, and all the more precious. "I'd love to join you whenever you want me to, Lady Agrias", she held her palm up while she refilled our cups, "Please, if you are to be my drinking partner then you might as well drop the 'Lady' for these moments. We are friends, and even more, been so for a while already". She finished filling our cups and seemed contemplative for a moment, "I must admit, I thought you a crass young man at first. Now I know better. I'm proud to call you my friend", she smiled at me. I blushed hard, but, perhaps thanks to the wine, I managed to hold her soft eyes on mine, "And of course I'm proud as well to call you my friend. And I'm happy I can share your birthday this year. To many more?", I raised my cup towards her. She lowered her gaze still smiling, and briefly closed her eyes, contemplating something perhaps. I realized in that moment that celebrating her birthday was something she didn't get the chance to do as frequently as one would wish. "To many more, and I hope you can join me in those as well, Mustadio", she finally raised her cup too, and we drank.

In retrospect I don't know if what possessed me was what led me to this. Perhaps in a way I had clumsily broken a barrier that a person more charming than I would have been able to pass with more flair. All I know is that I had managed to join Agrias on her birthday, and that, perhaps because I had already embarrased both of us at the beginning, we managed to have a good time.

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Why yes, it's only a one-shot. I'm just testing my skill so far. If you liked the story and since i'm just starting I'd deeply appreciate you leave a review. Any kind of review is appreciated. Anyways, once again thank you for reading and hopefully I'll surprise you with something else soon!


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